Critically evaluate how VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 changes the rural employment guarantee framework compared with MGNREGA.

The Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 replaces MGNREGA, 2005 [1]. It came into force on 1 July 2026 [2]. It widens the guarantee on paper, but it moves part of the financial risk from the Centre to the States.

Key changes from MGNREGA

• Entitlement: 125 days of wage employment per rural household per year, up from 100 [3].
• Funding model: MGNREGA's funding followed demand. The new Act gives each State a normative allocation, worked out from objective parameters [4].
• Cost-sharing: Under MGNREGA, the Centre paid all wage costs. Now costs are shared 60:40, or 90:10 for North-Eastern and Himalayan States [3].
• Seasonal pause: States may notify up to 60 days a year with no works during peak sowing and harvest [3].

Strengths

• Predictable budgeting: The government says demand-based funding caused unpredictable allocations and mismatched budgets [4]. An early interim release of ₹93,841 crore for 2026-27 lets works be planned on time [2].
• Transparency: Face Authentication attendance and digital payments are meant to stop ghost workers and leakages [2].
• Farm labour: The pause keeps agricultural workers available at peak season [3].
• Right retained: If work is not given within 15 days, the State must still pay unemployment allowance [3].

Weaknesses

• Capped guarantee: States pay any spending beyond their normative allocation [5]. In a drought year, poorer States may ration work, so the right ends up depending on State finances.
• Federal strain: The 40% State share comes on top of the allowance liability [5]. This weighs most on States that raise little revenue.
• Opaque formula: The allocation criteria are left to Rules, and a National Level Steering Committee recommends the allocations [5]. Parliament does not scrutinise the formula.
• Compressed window: 125 days must fit into about 305 days, which can crowd lean-season demand [3].

Overall, the Act replaces MGNREGA's open-ended, demand-based guarantee with a larger guarantee that has a fixed budget. To succeed, the allocation formula should be made public, and the Centre should raise allocations in distress years. If it does both, the Act can deliver predictable budgets and still honour Article 41's right to work and SDG 8's goal of decent work.